Gauss started by practicing Bigby's Hand.
Long ago, there had been a powerful mage named Bigby who specialized in all kinds of "magic hand" spells, and Bigby's Hand was his signature technique, named after himself.
In form, it resembled the most basic cantrip, Mage Hand, but the actual effect was worlds apart.
Mage Hand was just the most ordinary cantrip. Its carrying capacity, movement speed, and responsiveness were all so limited that it was basically useless in real combat. Gauss mostly treated it as a long-range contact spell to avoid touching cursed objects directly.
If Mage Hand was just a flimsy remote tool-hand, then Bigby's Hand was the "divine hand" Bigby had created on top of that foundation specifically for combat.
As long as the caster had enough mana and enough power, forget roadside kobolds or goblins—this thing could send even a dragon flying with one slap.
It was the representative spell of the "brute force solves everything" school.
Recalling everything he knew about Bigby's Hand, Gauss quickly immersed himself in the spell model.
As was well known, the complexity of magic spell models increased geometrically with each level.
Compared to a Level 4 spell, a Level 5 spell was like a mountain. In terms of complexity, ten Level 4 spells together probably still wouldn't measure up to a single Level 5 one.
That was why, in theory, level 9 or 10 spellcasters could begin studying Level 5 magic, but in practice, it usually took an Level 11 transcendent caster—or at least an exceptionally powerful level 10 caster—to use one reliably.
The reason was simple: spells of that level placed extreme demands on the user's attributes.
For most spellcasters below the transcendent rank, their brains simply couldn't bear the load of a spell model that complex. If a typical level 9 or 10 caster with insufficient attributes tried to force it, the mild outcome would be mental slowdown. In severe cases, they could end up as vegetables on the spot.
So in a sense, the difficulty of learning higher-tier magic wasn't a restriction placed on professionals—it was more like a kind of protection built into the world itself.
If you could learn it, that meant you were capable of bearing the burden. If you weren't qualified, no amount of time would let you cross that threshold.
Only after reaching level 11 and gaining the power of Domain—something exclusive to transcendent professionals—could one truly wield Level 5 magic and beyond with confidence.
It was a bit like the relationship between principle and technique.
The principle was the root; technique was the application.
Now, although Gauss had the spell model for Bigby's Hand thanks to the Adventurer's Manual, actually using it still depended on whether his overall qualities matched the burden.
As he sank into concentration and began guiding mana into the spell model, he did indeed feel a sense of weight far beyond what came with cantrip through Level 4 magic.
Still…
He took a breath.
"It's fine. Not that hard."
Judging from the flow and strain, using Bigby's Hand really was far more difficult, but it was still completely within his tolerance.
Even without the Domain that only transcendent spellcasters possessed, his raw stats were simply too outrageous. His 20-point Intelligence was right there, after all.
So he naturally stepped over what should have been a difficult threshold.
A Level 5 spell brought him a long-lost sense of novelty, like a genius student suddenly discovering a completely new field of study.
The abundant mana in his body surged like a river toward a single point, and the white wand clenched in his hand began to shine brilliantly.
At last, the incredibly complex spell model fully activated, drawing in the massive flow of mana and channeling it through his body and into the wand.
Boom!
A giant hand, shimmering with silver light, suddenly formed above Gauss's head.
Even the air seemed to grow heavier with its appearance.
The palm alone was roughly ten meters across, not even counting the spectral forearm trailing beneath the wrist. In theory, Gauss could make it even larger, but the bigger he made it, the faster its strength would drop.
"So this is Bigby's Hand…"
Gauss stared up at it and murmured to himself.
In his perception as the caster, that enormous size was actually the least important part of it. What mattered more was the mountain-breaking force contained within.
"If this slapped down on me, could I take it?"
That thought crossed his mind.
Was his "spear of attack" sharper, or was his "shield of defense" tougher?
In his normal state, relying on nothing but the Omni-Armor, he absolutely couldn't withstand a Level 5 spell he himself had cast. That much didn't need testing.
But if he activated Dragonkind and stacked it with Second-Stage Ghoulification, then what?
He pictured it for a moment and felt that it might actually be possible.
Of course, that comparison wasn't entirely fair. Dragonkind and Second-Stage Ghoulification were both broad-spectrum buffs, not purely defensive enhancements.
And realistically, if he ever faced an enemy wielding something like Bigby's Hand, he wouldn't stand there like a live target and let them hit him over and over.
He had Any Door for teleportation, Flight for repositioning, and a range of offensive spells to pressure enemies.
As long as he could survive one hit, that alone would massively improve his margin for error in battle. That was what gave defensive methods like this their value.
When necessary, he could even trade injury for injury. He could endure an enemy's attack, while the enemy might not be able to survive his counterattack.
At the end of the day, aside from a tiny handful of classes, most professionals were offensively strong and defensively weak.
Even warriors were like that. Compared to frail spellcasters, they were sturdier, sure—but compared to the lethality of their battle skills, their defensive ability still lagged behind.
In the distance, Red Dragon Company members who were collecting spoils couldn't help glancing up at Gauss's direction.
Nearly all of them could feel the terrifying power gathered overhead.
"If the commander turned that giant hand on us, crushing us probably wouldn't be any harder than squashing ants," some of the lower-level professionals said bitterly.
The longer they stayed with him, the more deeply they came to understand just how vast the gap between people could be.
In truth, it wasn't just the lower-level members who were stunned. Even Luna—openly the highest-ranked member of the Red Dragon Company at Level 9 sorcerer—was deeply shaken, even more so than the others.
She blinked, her pupils widening.
Then, as though she'd seen something impossible, she rubbed her eyes and looked again at the giant hand in the sky.
Judging by her own magical knowledge, that spell's appearance was unmistakable.
It was Bigby's Hand, no question.
But that was a Level 5 spell.
If she remembered correctly, even after breaking through just now, their commander's spellcaster level was only 8. He was technically still one level below her.
Beating her in actual combat power was one thing—she could still accept that. There were always freakish beings in this world who could defeat stronger opponents despite lower levels.
But actually wielding Level 5 magic this smoothly? That shook her to the core and nearly overturned everything she believed about magic.
She'd already been paying attention to how many kinds of spells Gauss knew, and that just made it even more absurd.
Was there really someone who could hold this many spells with no limit?
At least among everyone she'd ever heard of, no one possessed anything close to Gauss's variety of magic. He was practically a walking magical library.
She silently watched his practice.
Gauss, meanwhile, paid no mind to all the eyes on him.
Magic was meant to be used sooner or later. There was no point in deliberately hiding it, and he had no interest in treating it like some secret trump card.
The stronger he seemed, the more loyal the Red Dragon Company would become.
And in truth, what was powerful wasn't the spell itself, but him.
All those magical specialties, racial talents, and his 20-point Intelligence were what made these spells so terrifying in his hands.
Turning back to Bigby's Hand, although the first cast had taken a while to charge, it had gone off successfully.
He felt the power in the spell. Bigby's Hand had four operating forms.
Crushing Fist.
Forceful Palm.
Grasping Hand.
Guardian Hand.
It sounded flashy, but in practical terms, it meant this:
Crushing Fist turned the hand into a hardened fist and delivered an area strike. It was the most destructive form, but had the smallest coverage.
Forceful Palm spread the power across the entire hand, letting it shove or hurl targets away. It was more of a control skill, and most targets—even large ones—would struggle to resist that force.
Grasping Hand was used to seize and restrain a target. Unlike Crushing Fist, it lacked the same explosive impact, but it could hold an enemy in place and continuously squeeze with immense pressure.
As for Guardian Hand, the name spoke for itself—it was for defense.
Bigby's Hand could place itself between him or an ally and the enemy, like a half-clenched barrier. Unless an attack exceeded its defensive threshold, it would be blocked. Even if an attack penetrated the hand, its power would be reduced.
Beyond that, it also had plenty of basic practical uses—letting teammates stand on the palm for transport, for instance, or functioning like a lifting crane for heavy objects.
In short, it was an incredibly versatile spell. It could attack, defend, and provide huge utility in day-to-day use.
What Gauss liked most was that it looked cool.
A gigantic silver energy hand hovering at his side naturally gave off tremendous presence.
Coolness itself was power.
And it felt like an extra limb—something he could manipulate freely. The sensation was fantastic.
At the moment, because he'd only just learned it, there was still some stiffness in the control. But after a bit of practice, he was sure it would soon feel like moving one of his own arms.
The destructive power of this kind of ace spell was truly terrifying. He felt that a casual swing of Bigby's Hand could flatten a city wall ten meters high and several meters thick.
One slap would turn everything in its area into meat paste.
And unexpectedly, while the initial casting took a huge amount of mana, its ordinary attacks afterward weren't nearly that expensive. He only needed to top it up occasionally to offset the ongoing drain.
Unlike most attack spells—Fireball, Magic Missile, and so on—it wasn't a one-shot burst. In that sense, it was also unlike persistent spells such as Ice Storm. It felt more like creating a special "solid thing."
As long as he had enough mana and didn't dismiss it himself, Bigby's Hand would remain.
He made it swing.
Despite its massive size, it wasn't slow at all, and the force behind it was enormous.
The air in front of it was instantly compressed and blasted aside by the motion alone. He even suspected that with enough practice, he could turn its swings into some kind of compressed air cannon.
A great wind suddenly erupted in front of him.
Far away, the forest bent violently under the gale from its passing strike.
After some practice with Bigby's Hand, its proficiency quickly rose to 4.
Once he finished that practice, he didn't dismiss it.
He'd already spent so much mana to conjure it that there was no reason to waste it. Letting it hover nearby barely cost him anything now.
Then he turned toward the second Level 5 spell: Dawn.
Compared to Bigby's Hand, its effect was much simpler.
It called down a pillar of light onto a designated point for pinpoint destruction.
To avoid affecting the others, Gauss flew much farther away—even though he was already at a decent distance. He went another ten or twenty kilometers before finally stopping and picking out an open patch of land.
Now that he'd successfully driven one Level 5 spell already, activating Dawn was a bit easier.
After focusing for more than ten seconds, he opened his eyes again.
They shone with a sunlike radiance, and the white wand in his hand blazed brighter than ever.
A small side note: Gauss had realized long ago that this white wand seemed to have a special synergy with light-based magic.
Even a simple cantrip like Light, when cast through it, could hit ghosts with something akin to a holy spell.
And now Dawn—a true Level 5 spell—was naturally far beyond a cantrip like Light. The amplification it received seemed even more extreme.
Even inside the dim labyrinth, the surrounding area became dazzlingly bright.
Gauss focused on the chosen patch of land.
"Dawn."
The next instant, he raised the white wand overhead.
Boom!
A vast beam of light descended from above like a divine pillar.
The brilliant column erupted.
Even Gauss narrowed his eyes against it.
Unlike the raw heat of Fireball, Dawn carried a kind of holy impact—something majestic and terrifying, like heavenly judgment.
Within that pillar of light, nothing living could hide. From sparrows to tiny insects in the ground, even the microorganisms in the air were "purified," flickering like dust motes inside the radiance.
What power…
Fortunately, as the caster, he seemed naturally immune to the light's effects and wasn't harmed by it.
Far away at the horizon, a group of people was riding a giant eagle toward the Red Dragon Company's direction.
Suddenly—
Screech!
The eagle gave a sharp cry.
Then everyone on its back felt as though they'd been hit full in the face by a flash grenade. Their whole world turned white.
The startled eagle lost balance and plunged downward.
Luckily, the flash came and went quickly.
Once their vision returned, the eagle managed to pull up before slamming headfirst into the ground.
"What just happened?"
Still shaking from fright, the people aboard looked around in alarm.
Soon they spotted the fading pillar of light in the far distance.
So that blinding flash had come from someone's spell?
All of them swallowed nervously.
They were still a kilometer or two away from that light pillar. Objectively, that wasn't close at all. It was far beyond the range any ordinary spell should affect.
Then again, they were in the open sky with no cover whatsoever.
Even so, it was still outrageous.
Among them, one elderly man in a mage's robe narrowed his eyes. He saw a figure floating beside the fading pillar.
That had to be the caster.
And in that moment, his eyes filled with awe.
What a terrifying spellcaster.